'Drop to your knees and thank me': Donald Trump launches scathing Twitter attack against 'dopey' Alan Sugar he says should be fired from hosting British version of The Apprentice

Donald Trump went on a Twitter tirade against his British counterpart on Thursday, calling billionaire businessman Alan Sugar 'dopey'.

The multi-messaged attack had an added layer of insult since Sugar, who is a member of the parliamentary House of Lords, hosts the UK version of Trump's reality show The Apprentice.

'When I made the Apprentice the #1 show in the US, that was a good day for you...and many others. Drop to your knees, Sugar, and say thank you, Mr Trump,' the real estate tycoon wrote.

Battling billionaires: Donald Trump (left) took aim at his British equivalent Lord Alan Sugar (right) after Sugar apparently expressed some support for wind turbines, an issue Trump is squarely against

As if to make the recipient of his message clear, Trump identified the businessman twice in one tweet: 'Sugar @Lord_Sugar-- keep working hard so I make plenty of $ with your show...You have little persona, but The Apprentice concept is great and lucky for you!

'Sugar @Lord_Sugar-- unlike you, I own The Apprentice. You were never successful enough... to do The Apprentice but I approved you anyway. Without my show you'd be nothing!'

Gossip site Digital Spy reports that Lord Sugar did respond to that point, writing: 'You approved me! What a load of rubbish dream on You don't own apprentice Mark Burnett does. Shut up and argue with Obama. success is measured with what you have in business. I own all my real estate with no bank borrowing how about you big shot?'

Lord Sugar drove the argument further,
saying at points that Trump had 'a charisma bypass' and arguing that he
was more popular than the American baron because he had more Twitter
followers.

Attacks: Trump used his trademark Twitter style to go after Lord Sugar on the social medium

A third public figure entered the fray when CNN talk show host Piers Morgan jumped in on the fight, coming down against Lord Sugar who also serves as his frequent sparring target.

'Don't wish to interfere obviously with @realDonaldTrump - but it may be time to fire @Lord_Sugar from YOUR show for his impertinence,' he wrote.

The real start of the Trump-Sugar
Twitter saga seems to have begun when, at some point offline apparently,
Lord Sugar expressed some kind of support for wind turbines in Scotland
which is a sore spot for Trump.

The
American billionaire bought and built a golf club in Aberdeenshire,
Scotland and has since been fighting against the building of a windfarm
within the club's view.

'@Lord_Sugar if you think ugly windmills
are good for Scotland you are an even worse businessman than I
thought... and, in my opinion, should not be doing The Apprentice.'

Unlike Trump, who was born into a
wealthy New York family, Sugar - who grew up on an East End housing
estate and whose father had to feed his family on the £13 a week as a
tailor - famously started out with just £100 in 1967, selling aerials
electrical goods out of the back of a van.

Family affair: Trump is the host of The Apprentice, though his business savvy children- Ivanka, Donald Jr, and Eric- all feature on the show as well

Spark: Lord Sugar has since removed all of his Tweets to Trump, but Twitchy got one screen grab

In 1968 he founded Amstrad - Alan Michael Sugar Trading - as a general importer/exporter and wholesaler. But it soon began specialising in consumer electronics and by the 1980s was among the market leaders.

At its peak, Amstrad achieved a stock market value of £1.2billion.

But it went on a rapid decline in the 1990s, losing millions when it hit technical and reliability problems with its products. Sugar finally sold the company to BSkyB for £125m in 2007, a tenth of its glory days' value.

His wheeler dealing today is carried out through his private company Amshold which has interests in property trading, aircraft chartering and management services. He also has a share in computer firm Viglen.

His wealth was estimated a year ago at £730m and he was ranked 85th on the Sunday Times 2010 Rich List.

In contrast Trump's father was a wealthy property developer. He worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son, while attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1968 he officially joined the company and three years later he was given control of it, renaming the company The Trump Organization.

Joining in: Piers Morgan, who frequently attacks Lord Sugar on Twitter, took pleasure in the exchange

HEAD TO HEAD: HOW THE BATTLING BILLIONAIRES STACK UP

Name: Donald Trump Name: Lord Alan Sugar

Age: 66 Age: 65

Field: Real estate Field: Business, manufacturing

Worth: $3.1 billion Worth: $1.14 billion

Relation to The Apprentice: Relation to The Apprentice: Executive producer, Host of the U.S. version Host of the UK version

Legal title: none Legal title: Lord, member of House of Lords

READ ALL OF TRUMP'S TWEETS AT SUGAR HERE

Airing his grievances: Trump is known to type out his tweets first elsewhere, then post the second half of his message first so that when people read his feed, they come out chronologically